Enjoying the Christmas Season

Enjoying the Christmas Season...Christmas has never been quite like it is in America. You just don't feel like it's Christmas when it is 80 degrees and 80% humidity. However, this year we tried to do things right and celebrate Christmas well... We had a nice Christmas dinner of roasted chickens, canned ham, green beans, corn, scalloped potatoes, bread and even a bundt cake. Most was generously donated, packed in barrels and sent to us months ago by my parents and my mother's church. Thank you all very much! We had a wonderful Christmas dinner because of you!

We went to Church as a family. We also got some Christmas movies and made popcorn and celebrated with the kids in the area (pictured above). At the end we handed out stick candy (suckers) to top off a fun afternoon. Our football team celebrated in a different way. We all met at the local video club to watch El Classico - Real Madrid vs. Barcelona. It was a great game since I prefer Barcelona and they won 3 - 0. The Real Madrid fans left a little disappointed but, we all enjoyed getting together and watching our favorite sport. Overall we have really enjoyed this Christmas season and we hope your family has done the same.

My little buddy...Pictured above is Pastor Steven's son who has been sick on and off for a long time. Since I came to Bellimue he has been curious about me and decided a long time ago that we would be friends. Last year when we played football in Bellimue I carried several people from the field to the church in the truck, and this little guy was fascinated about driving so I put him on the seat next to me and let him drive the truck (I worked the pedals and he turned the wheel). He thought that was the greatest thing ever. We have been friends ever since. A few weeks ago I was delivering cement to the church because they are beginning to build their building. I had an old football in the truck from practice that he was looking at so I told him to get in the truck and carry it home with him. He happily ran off to play. The next week he came up to me at the end of service and said he had a present for me. He carried me outside grabbing his cutlass and we walked to a patch of plantain bananas behind the house. He had to get someone to help him cut down "his" bunch of plantains so he could give them to me. He could barely pick them up they were so heavy, but he managed to put them in the wheelbarrow. Then he wheeled them all the way to my truck and put them inside. He was so happy about the football that he wanted to thank me. It was a very sweet gesture for such a young man. It is little things like this that give me hope for the people of Liberia.

Silent Opposition...

For the past three years we have been trying to start a church in Bellimue in the Panta district. We have had our ups and downs. We have had our meeting place cut down with cutlasses twice. We have had people in the church steal money. It has been an uphill battle since day one. Now, I have been told that one of the people we have been supposedly working with has been going behind me to try and manipulate the people in Bellimue. The core members of the church have worked very hard to get where they are today. They have cleared land, dug sand, molded block, and have made coal and sold it so they can have a conservative church in their town. They are almost ready to start building. With the coming of Christmas they made the decision to forgo the latest conference in Monrovia. They made this decision because they basically cannot afford it. The average person in Bellimue lives on about $2 a day or less. The cost of going to conference this time was about $40 a person. I tend to frown on the conferences because the majority of people go for other reasons than to hear God's word. It is not cost effective for people in the village, and I am suspicious that conferences are more about getting money than building people up. I suggested they could stay home because they borrow money in order to go, but then have to work months to pay it back. They agreed that it would be wiser to stay home instead of going into debt especially with Christmas coming. This decision made one of our partners very mad. He never expressed this to me but went to the Church after I was gone and pressured the people to go. The pastor tried to explain their situation but was not effective. He was pressured into going anyway. When I returned to the church they told me all that was said to them. They said I was condemned for my council, saying that I was trying to manipulate the people. I saw this man a few weeks later and he smiled at my face, shook my hand, and never gave me the impression anything was wrong. I have had interactions with this man before and I believe him to be less than truthful. He has apparently been upset with me for some time because I want Bellimue to be responsible. He is upset because when we were planning to build the building he wanted to control everything. He found someone to make a blueprint doubling the church size, seriously padding the bill, and wanted me to pay for it. He expects everything to pass through him so he can either manipulate things or take the credit. I basically rejected the idea and his help altogether and we began to do things on our own. I have only ever reasoned with the people in Bellimue. I have never pressured them but have taught them from day one to make their own decisions. When they started thinking for themselves we started having conflict with this individual. Other missionaries that have worked with him have stated similar concerns. Please pray that God would expose him for who he really is. Pray that we would be able to finish the building in Bellimue before we return home. Pray that God would be glorified in our dealings with him.

Answered Prayer...

In our last update, I mentioned that we needed to renew our lease and in order to do so we would have to pay 3,150.00 dollars before June. Just a few short days after our newsletter we were contacted by one of our supporters who generously donated nearly the full amount. Praise the Lord! It is a huge burden that has been taken off our shoulders. There were others who contacted us to help but the amount had already been covered. Thank you to those who have so generously given to us and to those who have the heart to do so.